Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (17.2005(2007))

FOURTH CATARACT - ES-SADDA

SUDAN

APPENDIX
FAUNAL REMAINS FROM THE POST-
MEROITIC CEMETERY IN ES-SADDA 1
(SEASON 2005)

Marta Osypinska

Research conducted in the fall of 2005 in
the tumuli field of Es-Sadda 1 has yielded
abundant skeletal material of animal origin.
During the first season on the site (in
February 2005), post-consumption evidence
of animals was recorded in the chambers of
only two of the graves. In both cases, these
were goat remains (Capra aegagrus f.
domestica). Fragments ol a dog skeleton
{Cants lupus f. domestica) were also dis-
covered, including a full skull and
metacarpal bones, scattered among the
stones thrown out of the shaft by the
robbers. Originally, the bones must have
been deposited at the bottom of the burial
shaft.
The present season in November 2005
abounded in faunal remains, evidence being
found in six out of the ten investigated
graves (tumuli nos 77, 79, 81, 82, 83 and
feature G4). This amounts to a complete
change of frequency of such grave offerings
in the examined section of the cemetery.
The osteological material was preserved
in good condition. All of the bones,
including very small fragments, were

excavated. They were considerably brittle,
however, due to extremely dry conditions of
deposition which eliminate organic
compounds.
The remains recovered from Tumulus
77 consisted of 24 bones and fragments of
bones, all of them belonging to a single
specimen of goat (Capra aegagrus f.
domestica). The bones originated most
probably from the right part of the animal,
the most meaty parts of the carcass. This
being an adult specimen, the only adult
goat so far recorded on site, osteometrical
analysis was possible, permitting an
approximate reconstruction of the morpho-
logical type. Based on the osteometrical
data [Table 1], it was found that the animal
had been 63 cm high at the withers.1 This
assemblage was also the only one to provide
evidence of tools used to quarter the carcass
into smaller pieces. Cuts were noted on the
outside of the base of the nearer radial bone
(elbow vicinity).
The chamber of Tumulus 79 yielded 29
bones of goat {Capra aegagrus f. domestica),
all coming from a single individual. The

1 Z. Schramm, Kosci dlugie a wysokosc w kgbie u kozy, Roczniki Wyzszej Szkoty Rolniczej u Poznaniu (Poznan 1967), 36.

364